to it in february. by the way, you're recovered and you have the antibodies. go back to work. i'm sorry, i cut off jesse. when i cut off jesse, he gets annoyed at me and i pay for the next week. i'm kidding. >> today a third of the icu beds that are currently available in the state, do we still not have a figure on just how much the availability of those beds currently is? so it's 3,000 minus 80 used? >> the icu beds for our purposes are beds with ventilators. we can create today more icu beds with ventilators we already have in house, right? so we have 14,000 ventilators. if we had to today, we could create 14,000 ventilated beds,

if we were bumping up against capacity. >> that's correct. i think the term icu bed in this world that we're living in right now is different. so a recovery room with a ventilator is an icu bed, so i think that just fixing on the exact numbers, but we have asked all of the hospitals for that information as well. >> what about ventilators, the state only has about 7,000 licensed respiratory therapists and 150 signed up. is there a plan to try to increase in them, given they are the experts to get people breathing? >> we put out a call for about 1.2 million additional health care workers to come to new york state. that's going on a rolling basis. you will see many of these numbers which the governor presented today increase exponentially as those calls are going out. it's not just in state, but o

out-of-state volunteers from new jersey, connecticut and other parts as well and now we're arranging for them to come to the area as needed. >> as you noticed on that list, there were respiratory volunteers as well. >> and going back we have seen reports that federal resources said new york city will run out of icu beds by friday. did you see those reports and are you acting to those? >> no, i did not see those reports. i'm reacting to the numbers we have and you saw the numbers. the current number of icu beds with ventilators, that's one number. if you bring jesse the ventilators we have in hand and add those to beds, that number goes up 14,000. we can move them on any day. >> when you say the stockpile, is that stockpile here in albany? >> there are multiple

stockpiles, which we did when we ramped up the whole disaster emergency management system. we have emergency stockpiles. we have these placed in multiple stockpiles. when you have to go to the city, it's a shorter trip. stom pile in long island, stockpile in hudson valley, stockpile in albany. a stockpile in my basement in case the stockpile runs out. we have ventilators in the stockpiles. we have not brought them from the stockpile to the hospital because we do not have a hospital that called and said i needed a ventilator bed. >> are volunteers being deployed to the front line or being sent to work in other parts of the hospital? >> the workers? >> the reserved medical providers. >> they are not yet being deployed. if i'm incorrect, please correct me.

i don't believe they're being deployed yet. they're reserved in case -- for two purposes. you open new beds, you do not need staff, now you need staff to do the 200 beds. or you have a hospital that has a severe shortage of workers because of hours or sickness, we would back. but i don't believe we're now deploying the reserves. >> that's correct. >> should people be concerned about the rollback according record keeping, including medical malpractice and things? >> doctor? >> we are looking at those issues as well. there are concerns that have been raised, but as we mentioned in previous press conferences, the governor said we should look at our rules and regulations and adapt accordingly. so we're going to do that as well. >> if we did waive -- i was on

the phone with all of the hospital administrators. the department of health -- how do i say this in a nice way to word it -- the department of health has multiple regulations to run the best health system in the united states of america. and those regulations make it so. the regulations can sometimes get in the way of expedition and facilitation and mobilization. so we said in this case, we're going to relax many of the regulations so they can staff up, they can increase capacity. you ask a hospital to double capacity, we have all sorts of space regulations, so you need flexibility for them to do what we're asking them to do. >> governor, do you fear the numbers are worse than the disease mentality? >> i'm confused.

[ inaudible question ] >> if i need to work with new york city but rikers is run by new york city. >> i was going to say new york city is already doing that on their own so it's not something that they need us on. but we talk to new york city 77 times a day so if that conversation needs to be had, it will be had. >> 78 to be accurate. [ inaudible question ] do you plan to try to fix that? >> i can't. you need to be a congress person. you need to be a senator. i have communicated with all of them. i understand the washington bureaucracy. i was there. but i passed bills when i was hud secretary. i know how hard it is. but i also know how high the stakes are here. you look at the loss in the revenue, what you guys have been talking about to me, how do you do a state budget with that dramatic loss in revenue?

and rob mujica has been saying the federal government is going to pass a stimulus package that delivers additional funding to state governments. okay. here's the package. it gives us $3.8 billion. the hole is as high as $15 billion. how do you plug a $15 billion hole with $3.8 billion? you don't. >> governor, how do you respond to the mentality out there that say the cure is worse than the disease, and the suggestion by the president that he might want to open up the country by easter? >> look, i believe -- i think it's part language, right? nobody will say it is sustainable to keep the economy closed. it is not sustainable. we all get that.

china got it, south korea got it, et cetera. that's point one. point two, everyone agrees, i believe in this state, we do everything we can to save a life. we are not going to triage and say, well, these were old people, these were vulnerable people. they had to die some time soon anyway, so let's move on. i don't believe any american believes that. i know new yorkers don't believe that. and as governor of the state of new york, i can swear to you i would never do that. so then you have two parallel thoughts, you have to get the economy running and you have to protect every life that you can. i believe there's a more refined strategy than we are now talking

about. i don't think it's binary. i don't think you close down the whole economy, which is what we did. i did too. and then open up the whole society for business as usual. we now have learned that there's a risk stratification quotient. younger people have less risk. people who had the virus and are resolved have less risk. start that question by bringing in those recovered people, those younger people who are less at risk. and start moving -- good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where we've been watching andrew cuomo, the governor of new york, of course, speaking on this emergency in new york. we have said new york has ten times as many cases as the next highest state, which is new jersey, and that new york at this point has 30,811 cases. they're running into a real

crisis on hospital beds. some hospitals there saying they have to go down by 100% so that crisis cases, covid-19 cases, can be put in. while he has been talking just now, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has taken the floor to review how they have gotten to the point, where in the middle of the night they did reach a bipartisan agreement with the white house and senate democrats, which incorporates much of what the house democrats, nancy pelosi was demanding. here is mitch mcconnell. . >> but that washington drama doesn't matter anymore. the senate is going to stand together, act together and pass this historic relief package today. struggling americans are going to go to their mailboxes and find four-figured checks to help with their bills. why? because the senate stepped up many american families who

poured everything into a restaurant or a shop or a small manufacturer are going to keep making payroll and keep their businesses alive because this senate stepped up. hundreds of thousands of workers in key sectors who might well have been laid off through no fault of their own will instead get to keep their job and continue their career because this senate stepped up. and for the health care heroes who leave their own sleeping children and drive to the hospital for an all-night shift to spend hour after hour healing the sick, comforting strangers, and literally battling this disease, there will be more masks in their supply closets, more funding for their hospitals and soon more new treatments to

administer to their patients, because this senate stepped up. so today, mr. president, the senate will act to help the people of this country weather this storm. nobody thinks legislation can end this. we cannot outlaw the virus. and no economic policy could fully end the hardship so long as the public health requires that we put so much of our nation's commerce on ice. this is not even a stimulus package. it is emergency relief. emergency relief, that's what this is. no, this fight is not going to be won or lost in washington. it's the american people who will beat this virus. americans will keep making

sacrifices to slow down the spread. americans will keep pitching in and looking after each other. americans will keep finding creative ways to stand united, even if they have to stand six feet apart. we will win this fight because of people like amy, a stay-at-home mom in kentucky who is leading a drive to sew cotton masks for a local children's hospital. we will win this fight because of pastor grant hastings in sterns, kentucky, who's gathered volunteers to distribute more than 550 home-cooked meals. we will win this fight because of people like peg hayes, who runs a distillery in christian county, kentucky and temporarily converting her bourbon-making facilities to churn hand sanitizer.

we'll win this fight because of national companies are switching production lines to make medical supplies. because our largest high-tech companies are partnering with the government to throw supercomputing power right into the race at the scenes. we will win this fight because of families, neighbors and church communities that cannot even worship together in person because of small businesses, big businesses, public health and ph.d.s and local entrepreneurs. it's as the firefighters rushed into burning buildings on september 11, 2001. in the coming weeks our nation is going to meet new heroes. many may be police, firefighters, and emts once again. many others will be truck

drivers, grocery store clerks and pharmacists who literally keep our supply chains running. utility workers and delivery drivers who leave their home so everyone else can remain in theirs. teachers who now manage to keep educating their students over the internet while looking at their own kids at the very same time. most of all, we're going to meet a whole lot of american heroes would wear scrubs and masks and gloves. heroes who rush towards the sick and wash their hands until they bleed and work around the clock to heal our friends and our families. when our nation comes through this and takes fight, when our nation comes through this and takes flight again on the other side, it will be because american heroes won this fight.

all the senate can do is give them the resources to do it, and that's exactly what we're going to do today. >> and joining us now after senator mitch mcconnell introduced the issue of what they achieved overnight saying that it is not a stimulus package, it is an emergency relief package, joining us now senator tim kaine of virginia, democratic senator, former vice presidential nominee. let's talk about what the package has and what the chances are of success in your caucuses. and i assume you talked to chuck schumer and the others, dig durbin whether the votes are there. is it clear this is going to pass and can it pass today? >> andrea, it will pass the senate today with i think unanimous democratic support.

the bill has come such a -- such a long way from the gop proposal that was on the table on sunday for the initial vote. the bill has five pillars. it is support for individuals and their families, support for small businesses, support for industry and large businesses, support for state and local governments and critically a marshal plan for our nation's hospitals and health care providers. in each of those five pillars, this bill has advanced dramatically because we stayed at the table and would not accept a poor use of $2 trillion but demanded the $2 trillion be used to help those who are most affected. >> already andrew cuomo said the bill outlined is not enough, it will actually hurt new york state because it will not cover the $3.6 billion it would get would not cover the gap it's spending. it's not enough for hospitals, the marshal plans.

he said they're in desperate shape. is the senate prepared and the house, which hasn't even passed this, to do another package and do it quickly or is everyone going home as soon as this passes? >> andrea, i was a mayor and governor and i can't imagine a single mayor and governor in this country who would say this is enough but we don't intend in the senate for this to be everything. as you know we passed a bill two weeks ago dealing with health care investments, last week dealing with unemployment insurance and sick leave. this bill, more than twice the size of the stimulus effort of 2008/'09 fiscal collapse is a massive investment if those five pillars. but we recognize there will be some things we omitted. there will be some details that we probably got wrong as we were rushing to try to do something with the sense of urgency, and there will be additional needs. so everyone is now focused on gathering up the list of those things and we expect there will be at least one more significant

covid package we will address. but the good news today is by staying at the table even as some of our colleagues were getting sick or their spouses were or staff were, by staying at the table we got to a bill that makes massive investments in these five pillars in a way that we think will be very, very helpful to everyday americans going forward. >> and you're confident about unanimous consent, there will not be an objection? because if there is an objection, as you know better than i do, you cannot proceed to a final vote today. >> you're right, andrea. i'm very confident we will get this passed in the senate today. it goes over to the house side and then the house is not in session. they would like to do it by unanimous consent and that's a challenge. but the good news is after the partisan proposal was put on the table by the gop sunday, we spent the last days not only advocating for senate democratic priorities but we definitely included the house democratic

leadership to maximize the chance that when the senate acts, the house can also act quickly. speaker pelosi has said she believes this bill is good enough from her standpoint that they should be able to do it on a voice vote unanimous consent. my hope is that they will but i can only really guarantee on the senate side, you will see us pass this bill today. >> one of the issues is they have less than a day. they could come back tomorrow under an emergency procedure but it doesn't seem like she has that unanimous consent nailed down to warrant bringing people back, minus those hospitalized, the three that we know of, bringing them back across the country in some cases. >> and that is -- again, i have my own bigger-than-life to do list right now on the senate side. >> understood, understood. >> i can't completely predict what's on the house side. the good news is while the senate's been doing this negotiation with the white house, we've also been including

the house democratic majority to try to fast track this bill once it gets through the senate to get to the president's desk. and, again, it is so much better than it would have been on sunday in terms of providing the kind of relief to individuals, small businesses, our health care network, states and localities and we're ready to go on this. >> it do you have a problem with the secretary of state again referring to this enscripted remarks on a teleconference today as the wuhan virus and apparently in a conversation with g7 ministers, the u.s. is insisting using the wuhan phras in june? >> i view that as extremely unproductive and unhelpful. again, we're not going to change the way the president talks or secretary of state talks. they use that language to try to deflect blame. the u.s. started six to eight weeks behind other nations like australia and south korea in taking this seriously because at the very top of the

administration, the president was saying this wasn't a problem. we don't need to worry about it. the democrats are creating it. the media is creating it. they're looking to deflect blame. what we are showing today is we're going -- if the president won't take responsibility, we're going to take responsibility in congress for injecting the dollars into the pocketbooks of everyday americans and small businesses and our health care network to get us growing again. that unproductive language and trying to blame somebody else, that's what the administration is doing. that's not the way we need to approach solving this right now. >> tim kaine, thank you so much, senator, for taking time out of a busy day. >> absolutely, andrea. glad to. joining us now nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, jim massina, former deputy of staff for president obama and elizabeth kamara for u.s. biodefense in the white house. she's a former national security council head of that office there and i believe left in 2018

as part of drawing down the nsc office that might have predicted and helped advance plan for this kind of pandemic. first to you, kristen welker, the president is already on board. we're not going to have a repeat what happened previously with legislation agreed to in a bipartisan way where he would balk at the end of the day? >> the president is on board based on my conversations with white house officials and treasury secretary steve mnuchin, andrea, indicated as much. he is eager to get this passed. he's feeling the heat. he wants to, of course, prevent what is becoming an economic downturn from becoming a recession or one that is a grave recession. so he wants congress to act quickly. he has been saying that for the past several days so we do anticipate once this passes that he will absolutely be on board with signing it as quickly as

possible. remember, the economy, andrea, obviously key to his re-election and he, of course, yesterday talked about his goal, his new timeline. he would like to see things start to reopen by easter. of course, medical official, tho anthony fauci, for example, tempering that kind of language but the president feeling the heat to get this done. >> elizabeth, your office was disbanded i believe in 2017 under president trump. not going back to what could have been do, could have, would have, should have as people say, but talking about getting back out by easter as a goal and in contradiction to dr. fauci and others, we will replay what he said just yesterday -- >> it's a beautiful time to be a beautiful time, beautiful time alive. it's a great day. >> we just had a conversation

with the president in the oval office talking about, you know, you can look at a date but you have to be very flexible. on an utterly day by day and week-by-week basis. you need to evaluate the feasibility of what you're trying to do. >> beth, i think eastern is 18, 19 days from now. that flies in the face of all projections about how to flatten the curve. >> yeah, i think it would be really imprudent and it was imprudent to put a day on when we will be getting back to normalcy. i think it's clear first and foremost we need to flatten the curve and that means taking the burden off the hospital health care system by taking social distancing and where we have shelter in place going. in addition to that, we really need to use this time while we're all sheltering at home to build the hospital system, to make great use of what congress is hopefully going to be providing within the next day or so, which is massive infusion to the hospital system to help them

continue to get prepared. we need supplies, personal protective equipment, medical equipment and also health care workers. we need that in a more coordinated fashion than we're seeing right now from the federal government. the good news is governors are leading, congress is leading and i would like to see more coordination on supply and demand for those commodities while we're sheltering in place. finally, i think we heard governor cuomo talk about testing earlier. the key to be able to get back to normalcy and restart the economy is really going to be understanding who has this disease and also importantly who has had the disease so we can start being able to handle this pandemic more like we handle an outbreak, understanding each case, how to isolate that case and keep people from infecting those who are most at risk. but we're still a long way off from that and we need to use this time very wisely. >> we're hearing from emergency room doctors in new york city that ventilators are needed for

many more patients than they had thought. people are coming in, in more -- especially in new york, in a more critical condition, needing to go into an icu, needing that ventilator. i wanted to bring in jim mussina. there's politics involved. we heard very little, for instance, from the more likely, most likely nominee of the democratic party, joe biden. he's having difficulty getting -- projecting through this crisis as the campaign goes totally on hold. we're also seeing some polls indicating the president's approval ratings among democrats and independents skyrocketing to their highest levels yet. some 60% approval rating for the way he's handling this crisis as he continues to hold these briefings. briefings are working for the president, no matter what he says, people see him as a leader, at least more people do. >> yeah, as you know, andrea, you and i share a healthy skepticism on public polling. i think what polling shows right

now is not going to be what happens. the problem president trump has is he made a bunch of promises that turned out to be wrong on this virus. and going forward, once we get really deep into this in the next couple of weeks, the american public will look back and say what did you say would happen and what actually happened? the second political challenge he has is the economy, right? these numbers right in the middle of his re-election campaign, unemployment numbers skyrocketing in the states. this will present a real problem for him. vice president biden has the opposite problem, which is he now has to kind of sit there and watch all of this. he can't go out and raise money. he can't kind of consolidate his lead. we had to move some of the primaries back. so it's a challenge for him too but right now president trump, i would reject all of the polls you see back and forth and just know in a month from now, people will kind of look back and say what happened and who is responsible? and president trump's comments are someday going to be on a

television ad and it's going to be really difficult for him to follow this year. >> and talking about joe biden's difficulties, bernie sanders is much more effective in the virtual space than joe biden has been signaling after his retreat to burlington over the weekend he will continue with an active campaign, signaling he wants to complete at the debate if there were a debate, unlikely, and compete in the april 28th new york primary, if that's still hold. and that's also considered unlikely if it's up to andrew cuomo given the dire nature of the escalating cases in new york state. there's also been a tweet today from president obama who's been very quiet throughout this but this morning tweeting -- these are the burdens our medical heroes in new york city already face. another reason to maintain social distancing policies at least until we have comprehensive testing in place, not just for our sake but

theirs. >> that in obviously direct contradiction to what the president said yesterday. kristen welker, garrett haake, elizabeth cameron. garrett, we haven't brought new yet. give us the latest from the hill. there's some doubt what mitch mcconnell will do. tim kaine on the democratic side just now saying they've got unanimous consent. their whip is done on the senate side, at least they believe so. but it doesn't sound as though nancy pelosi has all of her troops in order from phone calls. >> yes, she may not yet. she may not yet. >> because they would let them go today and only call them back on emergency basis, right? >> that's right. andrew cuomo in the last hour may not have helped either. there's tons of conference calls going on around the capital as senate and house members are being briefed on this plan that will come in over 1,000 pages. most members have not worked on anything except the sections

they were responsible for. and that's just the senate side. the house side is trying to get brought up to speed realtime. and things that could be sticking points on the you outside includes provisions around $500 million for distressed larger corporations and how that money isled kro, oversight there. and the money for state and local governments and hospitals. you just heard in the last hour andrew cuomo, who is easily the most recognizable democrat in the country right now and arguably one of the most popular, saying this doesn't do it for new york. the $3.8 billion that would go to new york is a drop in a bucket and not good enough. his home state senator was negotiating this bill on the senate side and said he's been talking to his house delegation about getting more money. the key thing is that more money in this bill or more money in everyone what edexpects or gett

money to the states hardest affected by this will be a huge deal. if that holds things up on the house side and parks the whole rest of this bill for however long it takes to work out, that could create enormous problems in and of itself. >> garrett haake, right in the center of the action. thank you very much and thank you to all for getting us started. coming up next -- the president said he wants the country open by easter, as we've been reporting. the vice dean of john hopkins school of public health joins us next with a reality check. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. a partner who makes sure every step is clear, no no no no no, there's no space there! maybe over here? hot! hot! oven mitts! oven mitts! everything's stuck in the drawers! i'm sorry! oh, jeez. hi. kelly clarkson. try wayfair! oh, ok.

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president trump says he wants the country opened up by easter. despite the dire new warnings from the world health organization saying the u.s. could be the next epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, the pace of infections is soaring across the country. more than 58,000 cases in the

u.s., close to 800 dead. joining me now, the vice dean of the john hopkins school of public health and former health secretary for the state of maryland. doctor, thank you so much for joining us. can you give us a reality check. the president wants the u.s. back in business by easter, which i presume he means several days before easter. he's talking about packed churches on easter sunday, april 12th. is that advisable? >> a blanket statement like that is not advisable. what we're doing right now through these different shutdowns is trying to slow the pace of this pandemic so we can buy valuable time. that valuable time is important for our hospitals to be prepared, it's important to stand up testing and public health control efforts. while we're still on the upswing of a huge surge of infections, it's not a time to promise a particular day when everything can go back to normal. >> what are you hearing from hospitals around the country? we're hearing dire reports out

of new york city from andrew cuomo, who is talking about having hospitals empty themselves with patients to a 100% level in some of the suburbs so they can take the overflow. we heard from an emergency room doctor this morning on the "today" show telling savannah guthrie he's wondering if he goes into his ers where are the cardiac patients? where are the appendectomies? i think we have that. let me play that for you. >> last week we were looking for the one or two coronavirus cases that might be in the er. now it's hard to find one or two patients that are not coronavirus. the increase is absolutely staggering. and we know we're really at the beginning of this. case numbers are increasing on a daily basis and soon our hospitals will be overwhelmed. what we are seeing in the emergency room is dire. it's only a matter of time before this spills out on to the streets. please stay home. >> this is dr. craig spencer,

dr. sharp steen, he's a doctor that worked on ebola in liberia, and says this is worse because he and his colleagues do not have the protective gear they had in ebola. >> well, we saw it in italy and it's coming to new york, the potential for an overwhelmed health care system. it's an incredible red alarm for every city and county in the country to take this seriously. i think everybody's thoughts and wishes and volunteer efforts for the heroic health care workers right now in new york but it's not just in new york. because of the density of new york, that pandemic shot up very quickly but it's the same fundamental challenge that every place is facing and even if it's a little slower in other places, that horrible reality could spread around the country. >> and dr. deborah birx was worrying about the influx in long island of new yorkers who have alternative summer homes, perhaps, ways to retreat to long

island, that what is happening in new york is spreading in the area. we know new yorkers coming down to florida are being told to be tested and self-isolate. >> yes. i mean, the truth is though -- >> that's a problem. >> that's a problem but i will tell you the fact that there's also a spread in florida and in a whole bunch of other states. that alone will cause over time a growth in cases. these measures now are absolutely essential. they are critical to buying time for the health care system. get more personal protective equipment in there, get more ventilators ready. it's also important to stand up testing and other public health response efforts so we can control the spread. this is our time to prepare. this is not our time to tap our hands on the table and get ready for it all to be over. >> what about the possibility of experimental therapeutic treatments? we've seen the tragedy of what

happened in arizona, where people were taking chloroquine, the wrong time of chloroquine after watching the president, according to our own reporting of a family of a man who died. there's talk now from cuba where they think they have a wonder drug. it's some new form of drug that they've developed that was used against dung fever. we have known in the past cuba does have a very robust pharmaceutical manufacturing and research component. but under president obama some cancer drug was licensed for use here by the fda. this is an interferon alpha b, something jointly developed by scientists for cuba and china. is that something sanctions should be lifted so the fda could at least examine the possibility here as it was

during the bush administration? >> this is something that we need to all work together to figure out what treatment works, vaccine works. i don't think there should be any barriers to the flow of good science. and good science is really critical. there are a million theories why a different million things may work or not work. prompt, efficient but high-quality clinical trials answer the questions whether they do work. then you have to be able to scale up the things that do work. i'm concerned by just assumptions that something might work. we could spend an awful lot of money, awful lot of time, maybe make people worse, not really know what's going on without clinical studies. i know that's i'm sure the message dr. fauci is sending the president and others, the fda commissioner is sending. we need science on our side. we don't want to push science to the side in kind of a mad rush for hope. >> which is why we should be listening to the scientists and not listening to the politicians when it comes to what drugs

might be efficacious. >> i'm open to any idea but you have to do the testing. thank you. >> you have to do the testing. dr. sharfstein, thank you very much. and joining us now, congresswoman kathleen clark. we are so glad you're here. we want to know if there's a chance that nancy pelosi can get unanimous consent today or does she have to call people back? what is the game plan now on the house side? >> i can tell you, andrea, what we're doing on the house side is try to get our members as much information about what's in the senate bill as quickly as possible. we have conference calls scheduled this morning going through 8:00 p.m. tonight and we will add more as necessary. as we're starting to get information and tests from the legislation, we are sharing those ideas, our chairman and their staff are putting together

information for our members so we can see where we are. what we do know is we are committed to making this bill for the people with the focus on the american worker and the true pain that they are in. and we are balancing the urgency which we must get this relief to the american people and our responsibility with a trillion -- multiple trillion dollar package to the taxpayers and to making sure that this funding is targeted at those that need it the most. >> congresswoman, speaker pelosi did have people, you had democratic leaders and chairs who were involved with chuck schumer during the negotiations. if chuck schumer was negotiating with mitch mcconnell and it was not initially including the house democrats, and that is probably a real political flaw on the senate side, but in the final hours, this was a three-way or four-way

negotiation with the white house as well as the house democrats. if it's good enough for pelosi, are you guys working with kevin mccarthy and trying to get people to sign on to it? we have to go through this text chapter by chapter, committee chair by committee chair and once you get your caucus in order, if you do, then kevin mccarthy has to make sure his republicans are in order. we've seen objections from some people already, including one from -- one from justin amash but others on both sides. you'll never get unanimous consent. everyone will have to travel back and congregate and that could take a whole week. >> oh, i have great confidence in our caucus to rise to this occasion. listen, the first two bills of relief were originated and drafted in the house. we have been pushing for relief for american people as quickly as we can. of and it is true that until

nancy pelosi filed the house bill, the house was basically being left out of the negotiations. but she put herself in there and we know negotiations are compromise. this bill isn't going to be everything that we want but there are certain provisions that we believe are going to be absolutely, you know, compromises and negotiated but will be targeted at the right people. so i do believe that we will get this bill done. >> i didn't mean to interrupt, i'm sorry. but do you think that -- are you working with the republicans, with kevin mccarthy no order that this could be done by a voice vote rather than by bringing everyone back? >> absolutely. jim mcgovern, our chairman of rules, has put that out, that our goal is to have this done by unanimous consent. if that is not possible by voice vote.

we are responding in every way to meet the urgency of this and to also make sure that the focus of this incredible amount of funding remains on americans. we are hearing from our districts every day, from restaurant owners, from, you know, gym studio owners who are trying to figure out how are they going to get this relief? what do they need to keep their payroll, pay rent? these are real decisions families are facing. there is tremendous anxiety and our goal is not to have the perfect bill that we would draft but one that is responsible and accountable to the american people and focused on their needs. >> can you get it done by tomorrow? >> we will see, you know, as soon as the sort of -- the parliamentary procedures go through. but our goal is to get our

caucus all of the information that they need and to get to unanimous consent or voice vote by tomorrow, certainly by friday. >> thank you very much, congresswoman katherine clark. coming up next -- much more about the action or some would say inaction, on capitol hill and the white house. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. (woman) somebody would ask her something and she would just walk right past them because she didn't know they were talking to her. (deborah) i just could not hear. i was hesitant to get the hearing aids because of my short hair, but nobody even sees them. (avo) our nearly invisible hearing aids are just one reason we've been the brand leader for over 70 years. (deborah) when i finally could hear for the first time, i started crying. i could hear everything. (avo) call 1-800-miracle to start your

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complete the census, online, by phone, or by mail. shape your future. start here at 2020census.gov. . now with the latest from the hill and the white house, joining me now capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt, and "washington post" reporter and michael steele. kacie, the governor just told me by friday at the latest. by friday at the latest? that's not very urgent. what about this house schedule? >> andrea, right now i think the house is pretty frustrated with the pace of the senate, which, of course, is not unusual on

kacapitol hill, but these are, course, unusual times. everyone i'm speaking to says they want the house to move as quickly as they possibly can once they get the material they need in the senate. there are still a lot of questions from members about what's in the bill, and i heard there is a little bit of consternation with the new york delegation because of what you heard andrew cuomo say earlier. he's complaining there's not enough money in new york for the bill, so that's a problem that the white house is looking to chuck schumer and the senator from new york to try to solve here at the 11th hour. but i do think that the urgency of this is not lost on anyone, and i heard the congresswoman mention this idea of a voice vote. that seems to be something that democrats have spoken with republicans about. we obviously don't have a final answer on how this would all unfold. but we are relying on every single member of the house of representatives saying that it's okay to proceed this way.

because if any one of them wanted to walk down to the house floor and make a stand, they could potentially hold this up or force people to come back to washington. that's obviously something people are extraordinarily reluctant to do, and i don't think we can underscore enough, andrea, you've covered capitol hill over the years for a long time, i've been up there for 10-plus years. nothing like this has ever happened in that tenure, and everyone understands that. >> i know, and, of course, this is bigger than the entire national budget, this one bill. ashley parker, your story, your reporting today on trump versus the scientists. this really is a tug-of-war. >> it certainly is. the president is hearing from medical professionals like dr. fauci, dr. birx. he wants really strict measures but then he hears from business community members, secretary mnuchin, larry kudlow, and one person that speaks to the

president a lot says, look, at the end of the day the president is a business guy and he's almost always going to come back inside with the economy, and that has public and mental health experts deeply worried. >> and as much as the people might fact-check and criticize the president, it seems he is picking up republican and democratic support for his handling of the crisis. >> the default for a lot of americans is to rally around the president and give him that kind of support that they think he needs in order to do the job. the mixed messaging, of course, has been problematic. he stands on one side, some of his health care advisers are on another. but i think americans are largely looking past that and giving the president the benefit of the doubt at the moment. of course, to my friend's points

just made, a lot happening on the bill and how this is ultimately perceived by health care professionals will come to matter by those same supporters of the president as they look down the road, not just to the end of this week but in future weeks exactly where this president is taking the country and dealing with this issue. >> thanks so much, kasie hunt, ashley parker, michael steele. thanks to allful y of you and t does it for today. take care of you, take care of your friends. stephanie ruhle takes over this coverage after a brief break. there was nothing i could do. (daughter) daddy! (dad vo) she's safe because of our first outback. and our new one's even safer.

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good afternoon. i'm stephanie ruhle. we are all awaiting a critical vote right now on capitol hill. a stimulus financial relief package aimed at those devastated by the coronavirus. the senate last night agreed on the largest aid package in u.s. history. the bill gives direct payments to americans, up to $4 million to individuals and $2400 to couples. it also includes $500 billion to corporations. here's the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell just a short time ago. >> the senate is going to act